For Potential Clients
Presented June 3, 2011, at a local CLE for newly licensed attorneys practicing family law in Charleston, SC.
How to Try Your First Family Court Case to Your Client’s Advantage
Presented June 3, 2011, at a local CLE for newly licensed attorneys practicing family law in Charleston, SC.
Safety and Security in a Digital Age
The South Carolina Lawyer magazine, a publication of the South Carolina Bar, published Melissa F. Brown’s article “Safety and Security in a Digital Age” as its featured story. The article is pertinent to all lawyers and clients alike, and provides valuable information to protect oneself.
Safety Tips to Protect You in this Digital Age
This is a checklist of useful tips to protect yourself from an abusive spouse, boyfriend/girlfriend or stalker. It also includes tips to help protect your cell phone and computer.
The South Carolina Family Court Process
This article provides clients and potential clients with a concise yet informative overview of the Family Court system in South Carolina.
South Carolina Family Court Divorce Flow Chart
This flow chart provides a visual map that explains the divorce process and routes parties may take when navigating SC’s Family Court system.
Initial Consultation Agreement (Document that potential clients sign prior to the initial consultation)
This document outlines the limited nature of our relationship with the potential client during the initial consultation. This document is not a retainer agreement for our legal services. Instead, by signing this document, the potential client acknowledges that he/she will not become a client of the firm until a formal retainer agreement is signed and retainer paid. However, this document explains that all discussions are protected by the attorney client privilege and will not be disclosed to third parties. It also explains the fees for this visit.
“A” Client Agreement Between Our Clients & Our Firm
Our firm seeks to represent clients whom we consider are the people that we work with best. To this end, this document outlines our firms expectations of each client so there are no misunderstanding between the client and us about how we will work together. This document is not our retainer agreement. Our retainer agreement is only provided to those individuals that we agree to represent.
For Attorneys
Presented June 3, 2011, at a local CLE for newly licensed attorneys practicing family law in Charleston, SC.
How to Try Your First Family Court Case to Your Client’s Advantage
Presented June 3, 2011, at a local CLE for newly licensed attorneys practicing family law in Charleston, SC.
Safety and Security in a Digital Age
The South Carolina Lawyer magazine, a publication of the South Carolina Bar, published Melissa F. Brown’s article “Safety and Security in a Digital Age” as its featured story. The article is pertinent to all lawyers and clients alike, and provides valuable information to protect oneself.
This handout of PowerPoint slides is the focus of Melissa Brown’s February 2010 presentation at the South Carolina Bar CLE “Top Trial Lawyers Tackle Evidence.” This presentation will teach litigators how to introduce and authenticate evidence posted on websites, including social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, Twitter and others, to support a client’s position or impeach an opposing party or a witness.
Maintaining Clients’ Safety and Security In a Digital Age
Melissa F. Brown’s article, which was authored with the research and writing assistance of Ashley Simons, a 2L student at the Charleston School of Law, was published in the Winter 2010 issue of The Family Law Review, a publication of the Family Law Section of the State Bar of Georgia. It discusses the growing misuse of technology in family law litigation. In addition to exploring the various ways litigants are falling victim to an opposing party’s tactics, this article further explores how certain states, particularly Georgia, are addressing this vastly growing technological phenomenon.
Safety and Security In a Digital Age
This article is part of a presentation Melissa Brown gave to the Family Law Section of the South Carolina Bar during the 2010 Annual Convention. Focusing on the growing misuse of technology in the family law arena, this presentation provides an in-depth discussion of SpoofCards, TrapCall Cards, spoofed text messages, GPS surveillance, spyware and KeyKatchers, as well as applicable case law.
Safety and Security In a Digital Age (PowerPoint handout)
This handout of PowerPoint slides accompanies the article listed above, and was the focus of Melissa Brown’s presentation to the Family Law Section of the South Carolina Bar during the 2010 Annual Convention.
To Tweet or Not to Tweet: Social Networking-Help or Hindrance to the Family Law Practice?
This handout of PowerPoint slides was part of Melissa Brown’s January 9, 2010 presentation at the Law Education Institutes’s National CLE Conference in Vail, Colorado. Focusing on the practicality and importance of Twitter in the legal profession, this presentation not only provides step by step instruction on setting up a Twitter account, but further explores the important considerations attorneys must contemplate when engaging in this type of online social networking. The article accompanying this presentation may be found under the “Articles for Attorneys” section of the website.
How can a Forensic Financial Expert assist a Family Court Litigant?
This handout includes a list of relevant 2009 South Carolina cases as well as PowerPoint slides. These materials were presented by Melissa Brown at the Dixon Hughes PLLC Annual Litigation Conference to members of their litigation team comprised of CPAs from South Carolina, North Carolina, Florida and West Virginia. The purpose of this presentation was to educate forensic financial experts on recent case law relevant to their expertise, as well as to address the valuable services these professionals provide to family law attorneys.
This article discusses using the South Carolina Rules of Evidence, statutes and case law to lay the proper foundation or to attack an improper foundation when a child’s out of court statement is offered into evidence at trial.
